Women Composers on Women Composing - Rachel Portman

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Coventry's Choir

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South Devonshire, England, the village of Branscombe……that’s where Gena Branscombe’s paternal family heritage began.  Through her musical compositions and life style, she honored her British roots.  “Tea, we must have tea,” a line from my one-woman show probably best describes how Miss Branscombe lived her life.  Tea and small sandwiches were served when one had company, making conversation quite civilized!  Laurine Elkins Marlow, who wrote her dissertation on Gena Branscombe, told me that each time she visited the composer they would work together for a short while, then tea was served after which they returned to work.  Laurine has in her possession the tea cup that was officially hers during those working sessions. “Coventry’s Choir,” a choral work, was composed amidst the bombings of England during World War II.  Coventry Cathedral, known as St. Michael’s, located in the West Midlands of England was destroyed by the Luftwaffe on November 14,...
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Research

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Research.....that daunting word when you are a student knowing you have a paper due or a presentation to give.  Hours spent in the library going through materials and old books.  Or, research could be a scientist spending countless hours, days and years creating experiments that hopefully will lead to a breakthrough in medicine.  As researchers we gather all we have read and learned in the hours of reading and experimenting to create a paper, presentation and an announcement that will change the world. Life experience is research, also.   With knowledge and facts you have accumulated over your time on this earth, you can put yourself in a setting, observe your surroundings, imagine a by-gone era then try to connect the dots of facts, scrutinize details and come up with an actual retelling of a happening.  That may sound weird, yet, it works. Recently my colleague and friend, Dr. Laurine Elkins Marlow, along with her husband, Bill, and I made a trip...
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Kathleen Lockhart Manning

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Kathleen Lockhart Manning (1890-1951). Born in Hollywood, California, Kathleen was fortunate to study piano and composition with Moritz Moszkowski in Paris.   Also a singer, she performed with the Hammerstein Opera Company in London during the 1911-1912 season.   As a composer she wrote mainly vocal works for which she penned her own words.   Her song cycles include, “Sketches of New York,” “Sketches of London,”   “Sketches of Paris,” “Chinese Impressions,” and “Songs of Egypt.”   A number of her individual songs were arranged for chorus. After the death of Miss Lockhart Manning’s husband in 1938, mental illness haunted her the remainder of her life.   She died in Los Angeles.   I am not sure if Kathleen Lockhart Manning and Gena Branscombe actually knew each other but there is a reference to Gena in one of Kathleen’s diary entries.   She noted that she must send Miss Branscombe a copy of her newest published song cyc...
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